Just give me NOAA, please... or buoy links and tide tables
Here is the Oregon Coastal Waters Forecasts from the Nat. Weather Service displayed below (if your browser supports iFrames). If you don't see the report below, here's the link: Oregon report
Pacific Northwest Buoys
Moored buoys (ranging from 5-60 NM from shore) give data updated hourly on wind speed and direction, wave height, wave period, water and air temperatures, and more. C-MAN land stations are good for wind and tempature info. Checking buoys farther out to sea can give an indication of what is coming our way. Click here for the WA, OR and northern CA buoy map, or use these quick links to Oregon's buoys:
- Columbia River Bar, West of the Mouth (station 46029, moored)
- Tillamook (station 46089, moored)
- Stonewall Banks (20NM W of Newport) (46050, moored)
- Newport, Stonewall Bank (46050, moored)
- Cape Arago (CAR03, C-MAN)
- Port Orford (station 46015, moored)
- Crecent City, CA (station 46027, moored)
Tide Predictions
Go here for a basic tide table, or here for tide prediction graphs for the next few days on the Oregon coast. You should also get yourself one of the little printed tide books found at surf shops and other stores on the coast. They are super convenient to pack in your surf bag and/or glove box of your car.
Sea Surface Temperatures
If you have the luxury of choosing between wetsuits, checking the surface temps might help you decide which one to pack to the beach on any given day. Sea surface temps can easliy swing 5° or more daily depending on the prevailing winds and currents (which cause upwelling), and up to 15° during an El Niño year. The moored buoys also report water temperature (see links above).
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